


An Unexpected Visitor

by TheCreatorOfTales



Series: The Governor's Family [2]
Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: Charlie is a little shit, Charlie is also adorable, F/F, Freakytits - Freeform, Joan and Vera are good parents, Joan doesnt take any crap, Protective!Joan, Some Fluff, feel good feels, you need to read part 1 of The Governor's Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26838625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCreatorOfTales/pseuds/TheCreatorOfTales
Summary: An unexpected visitor appears at Wentworth, and causes quite a few surprises in the process.
Relationships: Vera Bennett/Joan Ferguson
Series: The Governor's Family [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956403
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	An Unexpected Visitor

“Hi! I’m Charlie! I like frogs!”

The young voice caused every woman in the unit to either turn to the entrance or to poke their heads out of the cell to check who was here.

Stood in a yellow raincoat, with her hair pulled back in a French plait that reached halfway down her back and a frog teddy under her arm, was a little girl who couldn’t have been older than five at the most. None of the women in the unit quite knew how to react in a way that wouldn’t scare the kid.

“Err…” Bea Smith stared at her, hands up in her hair halfway through putting the red locks into a ponytail. Liz and Maxine sat on the sofa, staring at the newcomer in shock. How the hell did a kid get through the building!?

Doreen snapped into action. “Hi sweetie! I’m Doreen, how did you get here?” She walked forward and squatted down in front of the little girl, smiling at her. “I like your frog!”

Apparently that was the right thing to say. Charlie burst into explanations of how she got her teddy, what he was called and why he was a frog, showing Doreen the teddy and turning to show her backpack which had glittery frogs all over it. Doreen kept the girl’s attention on her, trying to figure out how she’d got here.

“How did you get here, hey?” Doreen kept her tone light. Maybe she’d wandered away from the Visitors Room and nobody had noticed. Kids got into every nook and cranny after all, it wasn’t impossible.

“I wanted to see my Aunty Jo!” The little girl’s tone made it seem as if getting into a high security prison was a piece of cake. Doreen turned to look at the other women in the unit. She stood up from her previous position and held a hand out to the little girl.

“Tell you what,” she said, smiling kindly down at her. “You come and sit with us, watch some telly, have a cup of tea and we’ll try to find your aunty for you, hey?” Charlie reached up her hand and grasped Doreen’s fingers, walking with her as she led her to the sofa’s where Liz and Maxine were still sat, gobsmacked at the situation.

Bea walked over, hair now firmly in its ponytail and leaned over the back of the sofa. “Who’s your aunty Jo, sweetie? Does she live here like we do?”

The bright eyed little girl dropped Doreen’s hand to clutch at her frog teddy. “No, she lives with me!” Charlie didn’t think her aunty would like living here, there was no books that she could see, and no toys or a garden things. Aunty Jo loved making stuff grow in their garden. No, Aunty Jo was fine living where she was.

Bea looked at Doreen. The woman Charlie was referring to wasn’t an inmate then, she was an _officer’s_ kid. _NOT GOOD!_

Franky and Boomer came around the corner and into the unit, cackling together about something, until they saw the unexpected guest, which caused their conversation to trail off into silence. Both stared, not knowing what to do.

“Hey Franky, this is Charlie!” Bea spoke gently, aware that little ears were listening to everything. “She’s here to see her Aunty Jo! Maybe you or Boomer could go and get Mr Jackson to see if he can find her, huh?”

“I’ll go!” Boomer volunteered, feeling out of her depth with a child in the unit. When Kaia was here it was different, she had lived here too. But this little girl with a long plait? Completely different story. The woman quickly turned and nearly ran out of the unit to find the man in question.

Franky however, looked at Bea and motioned with her head for the redhead to come to her. Bea came and the two moved over to Franky’s cell.

“Why hasn’t the panic alarm been pushed? That would get someone here quicker than sending Booms!”

“Think about it, Franky. The kid has managed to get from the front of the building, all the way back here, nobody has stopped her. We push that panic button, it will make her cry. Any officer that turns up and sees her sat on the floor with her hands over her ears crying her eyes out is going to make things very very bad for us!” Bea gestured wildly. “Plus it might make her run from here. You and I both know that Gambaro would eat her for breakfast! She’s a kid! Better that she’s here, happy as she can be, and at least safe!”

Bea had a point. At least if the kid was in their unit they could keep her here until her mysterious aunt could be found. Franky crossed her arms. She really didn’t like this.

“Any idea how we keep her occupied?”

Bea smiled and leaned her head out of the doorway of Franky’s cell. “Hey Charlie! You like colouring?”

Charlie’s cheer was all the answer that she needed.

When Will Jackson came sprinting around the corner, having left Jenkins to follow behind at her own pace he found all the women on the floor of the unit, laying on their stomachs, colouring with Charlie, who had seven pieces of paper around her. They hadn’t noticed the man enter and were trying to get any detail out of her about what her aunt looked like.

“Is she quite tall, Charlie?” Liz asked, as she put the finishing touches on a frog for the little girl. They’d found out that Charlie adored frogs, whilst her twin sister loved flamingos.

Charlie nodded. “Mhm, and she has really black hair too!” She continued to draw, not noticing the way all the women froze. A very tall, black haired woman was Charlie’s aunt.

_Shit._

Will didn’t even bother trying to radio the Governor. Instead he turned on his heel and sprinted towards her office as fast as he could. He hadn’t recognised the little girl immediately, due to the fact that she’d been wearing pyjamas the last time he’d seen her, but he knew her voice. He ran up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time, bursting through the doors as he went. He came to a quick stop at the Governor’s door, knocked quickly and entered without waiting for the Governor to call for him to enter. She looked up at him, the look on her face clearly showed that she was unimpressed with the intrusion, however the fact that he was bent in half, hands on his knees and breathing heavily indicated that something was wrong.

“Charlie…” he gasped, taking big, deep breaths in, not noticing how the colour drained from the woman’s face at the mention of her niece. “…is in H2!”

Joan moved quickly. She slammed the keys of her computer to lock the screen, yanked up her radio and her keys and rushed out of the room, yanking Will with her. Why was she here? More to the point, how the FUCK had she gotten into H2?!

_Christ, she’s fast!_ Will had only just gotten his breath back, however he was soon running after the tall woman as she navigated through the prison.

Together, the two rushed through the corridors, and down the stairs, pushing past both Fletcher and Linda Miles, who looked concerned at the two nearly sprinting through the hallways but ultimately decided that if they needed any help they would call for it.

Bea was the first to hear the rapid clicking of heels and the jangling of keys. Looked like the Governor had heard her niece had snuck in. She kept the girl’s attention on her drawing, suggesting a place on the paper that was blank for her to draw in.

The heels picked up their pace, it sounded like the Governor was running now.

“Charlotte Ferguson!” her voice called from a little way down the corridor, sounding distinctly tense.

“That’s my Aunty Jo!” Charlie dropped her pencils, and pushed to her feet, her shoes had been taken off along with her raincoat. The coat had been folded over the back of one of the chairs, and her shoes placed underneath. Ignoring the ladies’ pleas to stay where she was and wait for her aunt to come to her, Charlie decided she’d find her first. In glittery socks, the little girl ran for the entrance of the unit as Joan practically skidded inside, with panicked, wild eyes and nearly knocked her over. Every prisoner in the unit let out a relieved breath upon seeing the Governor, all of them had been halfway to their feet to chase after the little girl if she hadn’t arrived when she did.

Joan immediately crouched down to yank the little girl into her embrace, assuring herself that she was alright, and then moved the girl back so that she could check that she was unharmed.

“What on earth are you doing here?! Why aren’t you with Maisie!?”

Cara, her oldest niece was currently in Sydney visiting the Opera House with her school, and as far as she was aware Natasha was still with their childminder, Maisie, which is where Charlie was supposed to be. How had she found her way to the prison to begin with, never mind being able to get inside and introduce herself to the inmates of H2!?

The women all got to their feet and watched as the woman who usually was very stern and unemotional, ran her hands over the little girl’s hair and arms, checking for injury and anything that might be wrong with her. It wasn’t a sight that they were used to. Once satisfied that her niece was unharmed, she stayed crouched in front of her, waiting for an answer.

“I missed you.” The little four year old leaned forward and pressed a wet kiss to her aunt’s cheek and threw her arms around her neck, squeezing with all her might. All the women, except for Franky melted into cooing and awing, although the current Top Dog felt her lip twitch slightly. They watched the Governor smile, and then return the hug, before standing up and holding the little girl’s hands, making her look up at her.

“I missed you too darling but you know better than to run away from your childminder.” She looked in her niece’s eyes to try and make the point stick with her. “Now, why don’t you go and find your shoes, and we’ll go give Maisie a call so that she stops worrying that you’ve been squished like a pancake somewhere.”

The girl nodded, before tugging her hands out of her aunt’s grip and running for her shoes. She came back with them, holding them up.

“Aunty Vee picked the ones with the laces. Help me, please?”

Joan smiled and sighed, moving forward and turning the child around so that she was facing the inmates who had now all taken seats on the sofas. Placing a hand on her back she walked her forward and leaned forward.

“Be polite and ask if you can sit next to Liz so I can help you put your shoes on.” Charlie did as directed, asking in such a sweet way that Liz couldn’t help but assist the four year old up onto the seat. Joan knelt and opened the laces on the shoes, and then went through the motions of putting the glittery green shoes on and tying neat bows in on each shoe. She rose, dusting off her knees, aware that the women were watching her every move.

“Right, time to say goodbye to your new friends, and say thank you for looking after you.” Joan looked down at her niece with a smile, walking to collect her backpack and coat whilst Charlie went round every woman and gave them a big hug and said thank you to them. Even Doyle got a hug, however once the little girl’s back was turned to give Maxine a hug, she made eye contact with the Governor and nodded once. Joan looked at her, smiled and returned the nod.

_Charlie would not be used as a leverage point by Franky._

Charlie rushed around, handing out her drawings to each of the women as a gift for looking after her. Bea hugged her again in thanks and told her to make sure that she behaved for her aunty.

Joan held the little girl’s backpack by its strap, with the raincoat folded over her arm. She held out her free hand for the little girl to hold onto, and she led her niece out into the corridor.

“Thank you, ladies.” Joan called, and heard them all answer with ‘No problem’s’ in return. Joan led her niece down the hallway, with Will Jackson following behind to ensure that nobody tried to rush the Governor whilst she walked her niece to her office. Once they reached the busier section of hallways, Joan hoisted Charlie into her arms, resting her on her hip to walk with a quicker pace. She did not want to be gawked at by the inmates who would no doubt get nosy and find out who Charlie was. Nevertheless, the inmates that were waiting for the phone and were passing through, stared at the image that the Governor carrying a young girl presented. Particularly as the child was talking at a mile a minute, with a large grin on her face and the Governor was nodding along.

Eventually, the two reached her office and Joan let the little girl down to enter through the door. Joan closed the door and immediately went to sit at her desk chair, however Charlie had gotten there first. Sighing, Joan simply picked her up, sat in the chair herself and settled the girl on her lap, knowing that there would be no peace otherwise. Picking up her mobile, she saw seventeen missed calls from Maisie, and she turned to get her radio. Pressing the button she called for Vera to come to the office as soon as possible. Within two minutes, the deputy was bursting through the door, shouting that Maisie had lost Charlie, only stopping short at the sight of said little girl, asleep with her head resting against Joan’s chest as the woman typed up her last report of the day, snoring softly.

“How the _hell_ did she get in?!” Vera said as she leaned over to kiss the little girl on the top of her head, then raised her head up to peck Joan on the lips.

“I haven’t a clue, I’m checking the camera from the front now.” Both women turned to watch the surveillance footage. Charlie, it appeared had simply walked through the front entrance, said something to Mr Fletcher who was working on Visitation that day, and he hurried her through the door, only stopping to scan her backpack through the x-ray machine, and returning it to her. To be fair, Mr Fletcher had sat her on a chair in the waiting room, the screen showed the man speaking to her, and the girl nodding. However, once his back was turned to deal with the next individual waiting, Charlie had simply snuck past him and through the officer’s door into the building. No doubt Fletcher had thought that the kid was there to see an inmate.

Joan looked up to see her girlfriend facepalm, muttering curses under her breath.

“I need to phone Maisie before she pulls her hair out in panic.” Joan said, gesturing to Charlie snoring in her lap. “Can you deal with Fletcher, I might punch him if I see him today.” Vera nodded, dropped a quick kiss to Joan’s forehead and then Charlie’s, the little girl snorted in her sleep in response. Both women quietly laughed, before Vera left the office, quietly closing the door. Joan phoned Maisie, stroking a hand across Charlie’s head, feeling that her plait had become loose, causing tendrils of hair to curl around her head in various places.

The four year old snored, unaware that Joan was reassuring her childminder that Charlie was with her, but she wanted to know exactly how she’d wandered off in the first place. After fifteen minutes, Joan hung up, sighing and rubbing her hand over her eyes. She felt Charlie starting to shiver in her lap, so with one hand she unbuttoned the blazer and managed to slip it from her shoulders, leaving her in her work blouse and tie, whilst the blazer was wrapped around her niece. The piece of clothing was huge compared to her petite niece, however it did the job and stopped her shuddering, leaving only the tips of her sparkly green shoes peeking out from the bottom.

And then her door burst open for the umpteenth time of today.

Fletcher stormed in, shouting about missing little girls, Vera following close behind, with the look on her face showing that she was livid.

“-Who cares about a little girl, Vera! She left, she didn’t go into the Visitors room so what does it matter?!” He rounded on the petite deputy, gesturing wildly, not paying attention to the Governor sat behind the desk.

“You should care, Mr Fletcher, because that little girl managed to traverse her way through the entire prison to H2, where she became fast friends with the inmates there!” Joan’s voice was low, fury lacing her tone. Her niece had been put at risk today by two people – her childminder and the man in front of her. Now the childminder could be forgiven, Maisie had turned to help Natasha who’d fallen from the swing in the nearby park, and then when she turned back, Charlie had gone, recognising the area she was in and knowing that she was close to where her aunts worked. Fletcher was a prison officer, who should have noticed that a small child had managed to wander underneath his nose!

Fletcher noticed that the little girl that he’d lost track of earlier was currently sat in the Governor’s lap, curled up in her blazer and snoring softly. The man was silent for a moment, trying to find the words to say about this whole situation.

“Luckily for you, she’s my niece.”

Fletcher looked relieved, then confused. “But why was she on her own?”

“She got away from her childminder and figured out where she was. I’ve already dealt with her, and I will discipline my niece when we get home, you however? You need to be more aware of the people around you. Baring in mind that all I can smell since you burst in here is alcohol, I’m assuming that you either had a very late night or you’ve come to work under the influence. Neither is going to end well for you, Mr Fletcher.”

Vera stood behind him, hands on her hips, glaring daggers at the back of the man’s head.

“So, you’re going to go home, and sleep off the hangover. We’ll discuss this some more tomorrow, but this won’t be behaviour that I will allow to continue, Mr Fletcher. It compromises your own safety, that of your colleagues and that of the women here.” Joan issued her order, and dismissed the man, watching him slink out of the office, hunched over.

Sighing, Joan looked down at Charlie who was still asleep. She glanced over at the clock, noticing that her shift was over five minutes ago.

“Time to go home?” She asked Vera, who nodded gratefully, and began to gather Charlie’s belongings, as well as Joan’s. The Governor tucked the blazer around her niece, and lifted her up into her arms. Both women made their way towards the officer’s breakroom for Vera to collect her own bag, and then they walked down the corridors towards the exit. Some prisoners watched the Governor walk past with the little girl in her arms, most smiling at the adorable sight of the small snoring sounds that came from her. It was well known that the Governor’s niece had snuck in by now, so Joan simply walked past, and soon both Governor and Deputy were at their car. After ensuring that Charlie was fastened into her seat, the two took their seats in the front of the car.

Once they’d picked up Natasha, who was now also asleep in the backseat, the two women returned home. Each carried a little girl into the house and up to their respective beds. Each one changed one of the twins into pyjamas, and then swapped rooms to tuck them in. Both women knew that the two girls were out for the count and would likely not wake up until morning.

After changing into something far more comfortable than their uniforms, the two sat slumped on the sofa, the idea of cooking was repulsive to the both of them.

“Shall we order Chinese?” Vera offered, head resting on Joan’s shoulder.

“Vera Bennett, I’ve never loved you more.” Joan pressed a kiss to the top of her head as the petite woman grinned and moved over to reach for her mobile to order their usual.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and Comments keep me going you lovely people! <3
> 
> Thank you for your support so far!


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